Scotland’s wildlife is amazing, but it's in crisis. Scotland ranks near the bottom in the global Biodiversity Intactness Index and our iconic species of animals, birds and plants which inspire us, and sustain our health and culture, are at risk.
We need urgent action from the Scottish Government to get us on track for a nature-positive future.
Last summer, over 650 people wrote to Minister Lorna Slater after the first draft of the biodiversity strategy lacked detail and urgency. Following the publication of the strengthened second draft in December, announced at the UN international biodiversity conference (COP15) in Montreal, there are still some gaps.
The updated strategy shows the Scottish Government are listening – but only to an extent. It says the government will “continue effective species recovery, reintroduction and reinforcement programmes”, which isn’t the bold new action we need to see. So, we’ve been continuing our campaigning and asking you to get involved in our next online action.
For the last few weeks, thousands of Scots have been supporting our campaign to #SaveScotSpecies, which involves choosing from a varied selection of species and sending a virtual postcard to your 8 (constituency and regional) MSPs. In total, over 10,000 postcards have been sent. MSPs are in no doubt that despite competing political priorities, the Scottish public cares deeply about the future of our wildlife, and we are watching their actions like hawks!
Image credit: Geoffrey Kuchera
Of course, we know we need to protect ALL nature. The postcard choices we offer in this stage of the campaign represent just how many of Scotland’s different species are at risk – in fact 1 in 9 species in Scotland are threatened with national extinction. We want to see greater protection for all nature and greater commitment to action on species recovery. The passion and enthusiasm from many of you for all sorts of species has come across loud and clear in your messages to us.
The postcards ask MSPs how they will:
Many of you who have taken the action have also helpfully shared your MSPs responses (which you can send to campaigns.scotland@rspb.org.uk). These are really useful for understanding which of our elected representatives are more and less familiar with the issues which Scotland’s nature faces.
This will be essential for our advocacy in the coming months, as the Biodiversity Strategy should pave the way for a promised Natural Environment Bill, which will, for the first time, set legally binding targets for saving species and restoring habitats.
We’ll be continuing our campaigning during this time so if you’ve not yet then using this link, you can send a digital postcard to your MSPs asking what they will do to help save nature. Please do get involved and share on your social media with the hashtag #SaveScotSpecies.
Keep an eye out for further updates through the spring and summer!
very beautiful